Life Changes…read more

Using life changes to measure
stress.
Holmes And Rahe developed the social
readjustment scale based on 43 life events
taken from their analysis of over 5000 patient
records.
400 participants were asked to score each
event in terms of how much readjustment
would be required by the average person. They
would give a numerical figure for this
readjustment taking marriage as a base value
of 50.
Scores were then totalled and averaged to
produce life change units for each life event.…read more

Rahe et al. Study of life changes
Rahe used the SRRS to test Holmes and Rahe's
hypothesis that the number of life events a person
experienced would be positively correlated with
illness.
A military version of the SRRS was given to men
2700 men aboard three US navy cruisers. They
filled out a questionnaire noting all the life events
experienced over the previous six months.
Rahe found a positive correlation between LCU
score and an illness score of +118. These support
the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation
between life changes and illness score.…read more

Michael and Ben-Zur 2007.
130 men and women, half of whom had been
recently divorced or widowed.
Looked at levels of life satisfaction.
In the widowed group levels of life satisfaction
was higher before the bereavement. In
divorced group their life satisfaction was
higher after the divorce.
One explanation: They might be dating or
living with a new partner and another is they
may have been using problem focused coping
during separation or loss, turning the life…read more

Evaluation.
Research using the SRRS suggests that any life-
changing event can potentially damage health
because of the significant readjustment needed.
Critics now suggest that the quality of the event is
crucial, as the undesired, unscheduled and
uncontrolled changes are most harmful.
The SRRS ignore the fact that life changes will
inevitably have different significance for different
people. Minor stressors for some people would be
major stressors for other people.
Most studies of relationships between life changes
and illness have produced correlation data, which
means they don't tell us about any casual
relationships between the two.…read more

Evaluation: Validity & Reliability
The life changes approach relies on people
memory being accurate and consistent.
Brown; suggests that people who are unwell
may feel the need to provide an explanation
for their illness and therefore are more likely
to report stressful events than those who are
not ill.…read more